The Health Ministry in Gaza announced on Saturday that the number of Palestinians killed since the start of the war has surpassed 70,000, a devastating milestone that underscores the immense human cost of the conflict . The ministry reported the death toll has now reached 70,100, with more than 170,900 people wounded . This grim count has continued to rise despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that took effect on October 10, with Israeli military actions claiming the lives of at least 354 Palestinians since the truce began . The Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government, is staffed by medical professionals and is considered by the international community to maintain generally reliable records .
Despite the ongoing ceasefire, which has offered a fragile respite, Israeli attacks have continued across Gaza . On Saturday, a drone strike on the town of Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, killed two Palestinian brothers, 8-year-old Juma and 11-year-old Fadi Tamer Abu Assi . The children were taken to the Nasser Medical Complex with critical injuries and were later pronounced dead . Witnesses stated the attack occurred near a school sheltering displaced people and in an area beyond the agreed-upon redeployment boundary for Israeli forces . The Israeli military, which claimed it killed two people who entered an Israeli-controlled area and "conducted suspicious activities," made no mention of children in its statement . Gaza’s Government Media Office has documented over 535 Israeli violations since the ceasefire took hold .
Beyond the ongoing violence, the Palestinian territory remains mired in a deep humanitarian crisis . The situation is rapidly deteriorating as winter approaches, with a critical shortage of tents, warm clothes, and shelter materials leaving over a million residents exposed to extreme weather and disease . A recent winter storm flooded thousands of makeshift tents, destroying possessions and leaving families without protection from the cold and rain . Aid agencies warn that a "bureaucratic, military, politicised quagmire" is blocking vital supplies, with items like tent poles often restricted by Israel as "dual-use" materials . This comes as UNICEF warns that nearly 9,300 children under five in Gaza were diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition in October, with contaminated water and poor sanitation threatening a public health disaster .
Efforts to ramp up humanitarian aid are being severely hampered by red tape and ongoing restrictions, with the UN reporting that only a fraction of coordinated aid movements are being fully facilitated . While some distributions of winter clothing and hygiene kits have occurred, significant stocks of supplies remain stuck at border crossings . International aid groups state that 4,000 pallets of aid, including tents and bedding, are currently blocked from entering Gaza . For the displaced population, the struggle for daily survival is overwhelming. "Our clothes, mattresses and blankets were flooded," said Nihad Shabat, a displaced woman in Khan Younis, whose family now sleeps in a shelter made of sheets and blankets. "We cannot afford to buy a tent" .
The surpassing of the 70,000 death toll marks a somber moment for Gaza, where a ceasefire has failed to stop the dying or alleviate the profound suffering of a trapped population. With infrastructure in ruins, a health system on the brink of collapse, and the cold of winter setting in, the international community faces urgent calls to ensure meaningful and unimpeded humanitarian access. As one displaced Gazan, Rami Deif Allah, expressed while drying out his flooded tent, "We pray for this war to be fully over, and for everyone to return to their homes... This situation of living out on the streets is unbearable" .